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    February 10, 2012

Republican Presidential Hopefuls Meet Conservatives in Washington

   VOA News
   Drawings of Republican U.S. presidential candidates Newt Gingrich, Mitt
   Romney, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul are displayed at a booth at the
   American Conservative Union's annual Conservative Political Action
   Conference (CPAC) in Washington, February 9, 2012
   Photo: REUTERS
   Drawings of Republican U.S. presidential candidates Newt Gingrich, Mitt
   Romney, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul are displayed at a booth at the
   American Conservative Union's annual Conservative Political Action
   Conference (CPAC) in Washington, February 9, 2012

   Three candidates for the U.S. Republican Party's presidential
   nomination appear Friday before a gathering of conservative activists
   in Washington.
   The appearances of Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich at the
   annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) comes days after
   Santorum, a former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, swept the nominating
   contests of Missouri, Minnesota and Colorado.
   The victories boosted Santorum's standing as a legitimate candidate,
   while raising new doubts about Romney's ability to attract
   conservatives to his campaign.
   Gingrich's status as the more conservative alternative to
   ex-Massachusetts Governor Romney has fallen since losing badly to
   Romney in the Florida nominating contest. The former House speaker
   finished a distant third in Colorado and fourth in Minnesota. He was
   not on the ballot in Missouri.
   The other remaining Republican presidential candidate, Texas
   Congressman Ron Paul, will not speak before the CPAC attendees.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.

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